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Friday Flashback: Shutdown hangover, John Boehner and more

by Take Two

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (C) speaks to the media while flanked by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) (R) and U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) folowing a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol, October 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. With the government shutdown going into the fifttenth day and the deadline for raising the debt ceiling fast approaching, Democrats and Republicans may come to an agreement soon on passing a budget. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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At the end of a week when Washington got just about as strange as it ever gets, it's time for our analysis of the news, The Friday Flashback. This week we're joined by reporter Shane Goldmacher of National Journal and Ken Rudin, former political editor for NPR.

In a political environment where brinksmanship is standard operating procedure, it seems like this week set a new high. What do our panelists say about the whole shut-down drama and its reverberations?

Let's talk about the 87 Republicans in the House who voted for the bill to re-open the government. Who are some of these representatives, and will they suffer consequences for essentially being part of a surrender?

What about the Tea Party-affiliated House members who were willing to shut the government unless they could crush Obamacare? Can they just go back to their districts and say they fought the good fight?

One of the most important, and best funded groups in this battle is Heritage Action. Who are they and how big of a defeat was this for Heritage Action?

The conventional wisdom is that if House GOP members don't toe the line, conservative groups like Heritage Action will back more conservative candidates to run against them. Is there the possibility they'll see candidates coming at them from the center?

Could one argue that Speaker of the House, John Boehner, actually came out of this better than might have been expected?

Leaders from both parties have a couple of months to hammer out some sort of budget agreement. How is this going to work, and who are the players we should be watching?

What are the odds these negotiations will result in anything that could be considered a bipartisan agreement?

Does the fever of the past few weeks change the outlook for other things on the agenda, like the farm bill, and immigration reform?

Overall, are you optimistic that lawmakers learned something from the shut down experience, and that we won't be seeing this again early next year?

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Take Two, exclusively on 89.3 KPCC, 89.1 KUOR and 90.3 KVLA in southern California, and on 88.9 KNPR in Las Vegas, captures the spirit of the West in a conversational, informal, witty style and examines the cultural issues people are buzzing about.